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+--- Thread: Winter Mercato 2014 (/showthread.php?tid=560)
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - Gabriel426 - 01-24-2014
ESSIEN makes sense as long as Muntari and Nocerino are both gone from Milan.
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - Mystik - 01-24-2014
I did like Essien as a player many years ago but I fear it is too late for him to really make any impact. I suppose he'll be good for rotation but unless we offload some midfielders, he'll be taking minutes from Cristante like Dev alluded to on the previous page. If we are playing 4-2-3-1 though, perhaps the two midfield spots will be occupied by Montolivo, De Jong, Essien and Cristante, assuming Nocerino has gone to West Ham and Muntari will be going somewhere soon.
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - slifersd - 01-24-2014
(01-24-2014, 05:41 PM)Arildonardo Wrote: Suddenly the Essien transfer makes sense. Chelsea released him from his contract so that Milan does not have to pay any transfer fee at all.
http://www.football-italia.net/44277/official-milan-welcome-essien
Galliani 101 right here on that deal, man, lol!
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - xudong - 01-24-2014
(01-24-2014, 03:27 PM)Jay Crisp Wrote: Young South American to take up a non EU spot.Wouldnt be right if that didnt happen
Galliani is pulling another quickly-fill-up-non-EU-spots-with-cheap-and-useless-youngsters-and-shut-up-the-mouth-of-delusional-fans-who-dream-of-quality-signings-lol-what-the-hell-do-they-know-I-am-the-C.Ronaldo-of-the-mercato-grazie-presidente trick.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
(01-24-2014, 05:57 PM)Gabriel426 Wrote: ESSIEN makes sense as long as Muntari and Nocerino are both gone from Milan.
I don't know. I really wanted Essien, ........, 5 years ago. Now I have a feeling that even Muntari could be more useful than him.
NOceriNO is just painfully useless.
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - Alan - 01-25-2014
if fiorentina and napoli really are closing in on Vertonghen then once again we've picked up the scraps while other teams have gone after quality. he's a great defender, one of the few really ball playing ones in the world. of course, it's still just a complete rumour brought about by one of his tweets and some scant information.
iif it is true though by comparison our transfer policy is one of a euro team now. roma, inter, juventus and napoli are definitely making more progress than us and they're already ahead of us,
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - Androgynous - 01-25-2014
(01-24-2014, 11:58 AM)ACMILAN1983 Wrote: On the more positive, we've been linked to Eder Alvarez Balanta, a young River Plate defender. I've not actually seen him, but I know he's one of the most coveted young defenders in football today and have heard massive praises about his ability and potential.
Can't say I've seen him playing, but on FM14 he turns out quite a beast, one of the best defenders on the game. Obviously you can't trust that blindly, but it's a thing that both Barca and the scouting team from one of the most recognized sports game rates the kid.
At least he's a far different reputation/recognition than the previous non-eu players we've signed before.
Essien transfer, like Dev said, makes me worried about Cristante and the future of the team, nevertheless, he's an upgrade on Nocerino, and was better than Muntari, but not sure if he will ever reach those fitness level again and stay injury-free.
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - Gabriel426 - 01-25-2014
If Muntari and Nocerino are gone from Milan, then 4 players, DeJong, Monty, Cristante and ESSIEN fighting for 2 spots is normal.
Just something I noticed, The Toronto FC payed more transfer fees in Jan than Milan
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - zubair16 - 01-25-2014
Hello everyone
I've been reading this forum for quite a while now but I have never posted on here. I am going to tell you what I think about our current situation.
Firstly I can tell you that Milan is not my favourite club, Chelsea is (I am from England). Milan have always been my favourite Italian club and from the end of 2012 I have been watching Milan week-in-week-out. In this time I've grown pretty attached to the club.
Now obviously we have been underachieving this season. Injuries have been a massive problem but our squad is still far too good to be where we are currently. Allegri had to go, because it was clear that he was not motivating the players. The recent game against Sassuolo, amongst many others, showed this. There was a lack of desire and urgency from our players, and ultimately this has cost us this season.
Like I said I thin our squad is still very good, but as people say on here, there are some 'deadwood' that needs to be sold. Here are my views on each player, and if we should keep them or not. (I'm going in squad number order)
Amelia - Tbh if he wants to go he can go. If he stays then he should be 3rd choice. He's a fairly poor keeper so we can't expect so much from a 3rd choice
De Sciglo - The thing about modern young full backs is they normally are very good offensively, but defensively they are not so good. At Chelsea we have the fairly young Azpillicueta and Bertrand who I'm thankful for the fact that they are good defensively and offensively. However this lad is tremendous. For his age he shows incredible potential and is going in the same direction as Maldini. He is one player that needs to be kept at all costs.
Muntari - Very inconsistent and struggles to keep concentrating for 90 mins. Poor passing, gives away cheap free kicks but he has a decent engine and does score a few. Could be decent as a back up but if we're going for a 4231 then he isn't disciplined enough to play in the 2 in the middle(the pivot).
Mexes - Amazingly he's probably our best central defender which is worrying. He should be kept but as a back up. A centre back needs to be brought in.
Robinho - Was talented but he's not good enough to start for Milan. He can beat his man and score a few but that's only after he scoffs several chances before. Maybe a decent player off the bench but should leave due to his probable high wages
Saponara - In the times I've seen him he looks quite talented but not match fit. I don't know if he can play on the wing because we already have Kaka and Honda to play centrally in the 3 behind the forward. Needs more opportunities.
Honda - Should do well here but needs time to settle in
Pazzini - I like him a lot. Good goalscorer and plays with a lot of heart (the game against Sassuolo showed this). He's probably a back to Balo but he's someone we need to keep.
Rami - Has looked a bit nervous to start with but he hasn't played properly for a while now. Hopefully will turn out to be a good signing.
Birsa - To his credit he won us 6 points this season. He has decent technique, quite fast, works hard and is left-footed. He isn't terrible and wouldn't be a bad back up.
Poli - Started the season quite well but has faded. He works hard but needs to work on some of his technical abilites. Should be kept
Zapata - I liked him last year but this year he has been poor. On his day he is a very good defender, but his day doesn't come about too often. I think we should keep him but as a back up as he is better than Zaccardo and Bonera.
Monto - I think people say the captancy has added a lot of pressure to him, which is why he isn't playing as well as he was last year. However I think it's the return of De Jong which isn't bringing out the best of him when we were playing a 4312. With De Jong playing Monto has to play as a box-to-box midfielder which isn't his favoured role. He is better playing as the deeper of the three which is where he played most of last year and flourished. I think playing 4231 will help him because it allows both him and De Jong to play deeper, so I expect his season to improve
Abate - A lot of people here don't like him. I think this is because offensively he is decent but not too good. Defensively he's fantastic, one of the best defensively in the world in his position. Personally I'd rather my full back to be better defensively then offensively. People want Santon to replace him but I watch a lot of Santon and he's good but not better than Abate. Abate, IMO, is one of the best right backs in the world, I can only name a handful which are better than him: Lahm, Alves, maybe Ivanovic, maybe Sagna, Zabaleta & Piszczek.
Constant - Okay he isn't brilliant but if he is kept as a back up we could get worse. If he's the back left-back to MDS then I wouldn't mind because he can be pretty decent at times. Better than Urby.
Kaka - He needs a rest because he isn't as quick as he was. Still top class but needs to adapt his game with age
Nocerino - Not good enough. Needs to go
Cristante - Absolute class. Fantastic potential and I think him playing as the one of the pivot will help him because I see that as his best position
Bonera - If he doesn't mind being a back up to the back ups then keep him because he has experience of playing for Milan and can be decent. If not then bye bye
Silvestre - Should've promoted a youth player instead of loaning him. Bye Bye
Urby - Could stay if he promises never to play as a defender. Could use him as a winger in the 3 behind but only if we don't sign any other wingers
Abbiati - Ultimately I think his time as Milan first choice has come to an end. We should be looking for another GK
De Jong - Very good player and is needed
Petanga - Talented, should never have gone out on loan. Let's hope he shows us what he can do.
Balo - Where to start? He can win the game for us single handedly. But that's only if he wants to. If he turns up he is one of the best CF's in the world, if he doesn't he'll probs get sent off. I don't mind him playing bad but it's when he doesn't work hard that really gets me. I think Seedorf will help in his development as I think Balo will listen to him.
Gabriel - Has got talent and we should expect mistakes from a young GK, but I think if we can get Perin then there's no point in keeping Gabriel.
Zaccardo - Bye
SES - I can't wait till he gets back. Must keep him at all costs
Essien? - If he's ours then I am so so for this signing. As a Chelsea supporter I can tell you he is nothing compared to what he was a few years ago, injuries have taken its toll on him. He was a liability whenever he played for us this season, he is not the powerhouse he once was Hopefully he can rediscover his form here.
In terms of who should defo go:
Zaccardo, Amelia, Silvestre, Urby, Nocerino, Muntari, Saponara (loan)
A few more could leave depending if we sign anyone else.
In terms of who we can sign:
GK - Perin (long-term), Julio Cesar?(Short-term instead of Abbiati. Needs game time before the WC. Still a very good player but wages could be a problem and I don't know if he wants to play for us as he played for Inter)
CB - This needs to be our main investment, a top CB to partner Rami/Mexes. Mangala? Vidic?
CM - If we're playing 4231 do we need another? Monto, De Jong, Essien, Poli and Cristante should be enough
Wingers - We need someone more direct while SES is out. Lamela isn't getting game time at Spurs but would cost a fortune. Loan maybe?
ST - I think we're covered with Balo, Pazzi & Peta
Btw I don't think we should get rid of all of those players right now, most should go in the summer. Loosing to many players half way through the season will upset the squad dynamics and there is a chance we may not replace all of them know Gallani.
Overall I think Seedorf has a massive job on his hand. He has a squad good enough to be around the top but will need to motivate them so they can climb up the table. It will be an uphill task.
(Sorry for the long post and poor grammar lol)
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - ACMILAN1983 - 01-25-2014
Welcome to MM Zubair, I hope you get to post regularly here
Very good post too, I agree with the vast majority with what you said and you make a lot of good points. Finally, I'm amazed your interest in Milan has grown since 2012, as we've generally been underwhelming over recent years.I don't get the Essien transfer whatsoever. He's 31, has had an injury wrought career and barely played this season. The only reason I can see we got him is because he's got experience at CL level and will be available for the Atletico match.
This is where my concerns grow though. We've taken on a guy for the next 1.5 years for a match which quite frankly we have little chance in. Not only now are we burdened with the cost of his salary, but we've lost a spot in our squad to actually rebuild with someone who will take over for a longer term. This in turn raises another issue, as Montolivo is 29, De Jong is 29 and Essien is 31. These 3 guys, who are probably the first midfielders on the teamsheet, within the next year or two max will need replacing, all around the same time.
Then there's the whole Seedorf aspect that concerns me. Essien says he spoke to Seedorf the other day and that's what convinced him to come. What worries me is Seedorf wanted Essien at Milan, because if Essien is his pick then my worries grow that the guy we just got as coach to rebuild is making some seriously worrying decisions. In addition to this, Seedorf wants to play a high pressing, high intensity game. Essien at 31 and with highly questionable fitness is NOT the player who will offer these qualities. Hell, it would have made more sense to bite the bullet and invest in Nainggolan, who has started really well at Roma.
My only hope is that Essien brings in a champion mentality. Ghana over the past decade has always been better when Essien's been available, because he brought with him a strong personality and leadership and offered confidence to those around him. However, it's one thing to do this for your nation when you're the standout player, it's another to do it at club level.
Like Xu, give me Essien 5 years ago and I'd be jumping with joy. Now though, I'm skeptical at best and quite frankly hoping the club know something that I can't see in him. That said, I think right now our sporting management (i.e. Galliani!) is competing with Inter to see who can prove to be the most inept. Milan is a shambolic city for football at the moment.
(01-25-2014, 05:27 AM)Gabriel426 Wrote: If Muntari and Nocerino are gone from Milan, then 4 players, DeJong, Monty, Cristante and ESSIEN fighting for 2 spots is normal.
Just something I noticed, The Toronto FC payed more transfer fees in Jan than Milan
From what I understand Muntari was one of the biggest promoters of the Essien transfer, so I doubt very much he'll go. Nocerino may well leave. You've also missed Poli, who is another I would expect is challenging for those roles.
As for the Toronto FC comment, we haven't spent anything on transfer fees right? Honda came on free, Rami on free loan and Essien was released by Chelsea?
(01-25-2014, 01:37 AM)Androgynous Wrote: Can't say I've seen him playing, but on FM14 he turns out quite a beast, one of the best defenders on the game. Obviously you can't trust that blindly, but it's a thing that both Barca and the scouting team from one of the most recognized sports game rates the kid.
At least he's a far different reputation/recognition than the previous non-eu players we've signed before.
Essien transfer, like Dev said, makes me worried about Cristante and the future of the team, nevertheless, he's an upgrade on Nocerino, and was better than Muntari, but not sure if he will ever reach those fitness level again and stay injury-free.
Balanta does interest me because so much praise is given to the guy. The problem is if we buy him only to waste him for the long term prospect, like we seem to do with so many young talents.
RE: Winter Mercato 2014 - zubair16 - 01-25-2014
I think Essien was brought in to bring some winning mentality that this team is lacking. He has probably won more titles than anyone else in the team.
I really question his ability and fitness. Every time he has played for Chelsea this season he has been poor. This happened after 13 secs on his first PL start for a few months: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTpxiY40ZwE
I hope given a longer run in the team he can prove me wrong. Maybe produce a few more of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_Jzzaw8NPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb2SDM8cgqU
